Select Committee on Education and Skills Fourth Report


2  Origins, aims and procedures

Origins

6. Universities have from their beginnings been among the most international of social organisations.[6] The Bologna Process represents an important stage in the continuing development of co-operation between academic institutions, encouraged and supported by the governments of their respective countries. Its origins reflect the Magna Carta Universitatum, a document setting out the fundamental principles on which university level education is based, signed in 1988 by heads of universities attending the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna.

7. Ten years later, a separate inter-governmental process was initiated by the ministers responsible for higher education in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, meeting in Paris, who approved the Sorbonne Declaration, committing their countries to "harmonising the architecture of the European Higher Education system." One year on, in 1999, Ministers from 29 European countries, back in Bologna, put their names to a declaration which stated an intention that by 2010, a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) would be in existence.

8. The Bologna Process is about developing a European Higher Education Area by 2010. The Process is a non-binding inter-governmental initiative between its signatory countries. To understand this is to understand the nature of the Bologna Process as intended from its origin. It is not a European Community initiative, project, or official programme. The signatories to the Bologna Process are a voluntary collection of 45 countries (and growing). It is broader than the EC and it is a process that originated, and continues to develop, outside the EC.

Objectives

9. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have summarised the objectives of the Process as follows:

  • A degree system based on three cycles—Bachelors, Masters and doctoral studies— that are easily readable and comparable;
  • Developing a credit system, such as the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), that can be used for the purposes of transfer and recognition;
  • Measures to favour mobility, transparency and readily comparable qualifications;
  • European co-operation in the field of quality assurance and evaluation.

    These are underpinned by other action lines that cover:

a)  The promotion of the European dimension in higher education;

b)  A focus on lifelong learning;

c)  The inclusion of higher education institutions and students;[7]

d)  The promotion of the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area;

e)  Doctoral studies and the synergy between the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area." [8]

10. The ten agreed Action Lines are listed in Annex 2.

11. The purpose of the Bologna Process, as stated in its formal priorities and "action lines", is to create a broad framework for higher education to enable comparability within a flexible system and to promote the European Higher Education Area for the benefit of all of the countries involved—including the UK. It is not intended to create standardised or uniform higher education across the European Higher Education Area.

Governance

12. Since 1999 Ministers have met three times to assess progress towards the creation of the EHEA—in Prague in 2001, in Berlin in 2003 and in Bergen in 2005. The official communiqués from these meetings—agreed by all participants—have added to the original declaration. The UK will host the next ministerial summit in London in May 2007 and is responsible for drafting the Communiqué for consideration at that meeting. The 2009 conference will be organised by a consortium of the Benelux countries.

13. Over the past eight years the Bologna Process has both widened and deepened. Forty-five countries are now in membership compared with twenty-nine at the outset (a list of signatory countries is given in Annex 1). Several are from beyond Europe. Questions are now being raised as to whether continuing growth will facilitate the cooperation, mobility and compatibility that were high on the original agenda. Bernd Wachter, Director of the Academic Co-operation Association has said that "a more limited catalogue of concrete aims—which characterised Bologna at its outset—has a much better chance of implementation than a very wide range of issues, especially in a reform-sceptical continent such as Europe." [9]

14. As previously discussed, it is important to emphasise that the Bologna Process is a non-binding inter-governmental initiative between signatory countries. It is not a European Community (EC) initiative, project or official programme. The signatories to the Bologna Process are the governments of 45 countries (a number which seems likely to grow—see Annex 1). The UK HE Europe Unit,[10] set up in 2004 and supported by a consortium of higher education funding bodies and organisations, tells us that "Decision-making within the Process rests on the consent of all the participating countries," and that such decision making "is carried out through an 'intergovernmental' process by Ministers at bi-annual summits."[11] To reach a decision concerning the Bologna Process requires consensus between participating countries.[12] Thus the Process is broader than the EC and continues to develop outside the EC.

15. The European Commission has a formal role as a full member of the major policy making groups that govern the Bologna Process (see below) and also provides financial support for many activities, but does not lead, direct, or legislate with regard to the conduct of the Process.

16. The Bologna Secretariat is located in the host country for the next Ministerial conference, and usually comprises staff of the relevant Department of Government responsible for higher education in that country.

17. Two other bodies play major roles in governance, namely the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) and the Bologna Board.

18. The BFUG has the task of taking forward, by means of an agreed programme of conferences and activities, recommendations made at the ministerial meetings. BFUG is made up of representatives of Ministries of Education from all 45 Bologna member countries, along with those of other European-level organisations, which include the European Commission; European University Association (EUA); European Association of Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA); National Union of Students in Europe (ESIB); European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE); and the Council of Europe. Other organisations such as the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations, the Education International Pan-European Structure and the Scottish Executive attend BFUG meetings

19. The Bologna Board is a smaller body, on which sit the countries that have hosted the previous Ministerial conference and which are to host the next, and representatives of the previous, current and succeeding Presidencies of the EC Council of Ministers. The European Commission also has a place, along with representatives of other Europe-wide bodies and of two non-EU countries. The host of the next ministerial meeting is in the Chair.[13]

20. There is no central budget for the Bologna process. Each member country and organisation meets costs incurred by attendance of its representatives at meetings and conferences. Secretariat costs are met by the country acting as host for the following Ministerial Conference. In the UK the work of the Europe Unit is supported by a consortium of higher education organisations and funding bodies. The EC provides support for some Bologna activities cognate with its own programmes of work. EC funds have also been made available to support the development of the stock-taking and score-card methodology by means of which countries self-report upon progress in implementing the action-lines in the Bologna Declaration and other principles and decisions added by the subsequent Ministerial summits.[14]

The role of higher education institutions

21. Institutions within the higher education sector play a crucially important role in the Process. Although a creation of governments, the success of the Bologna Process depends on the active participation of individual universities and colleges and their representative organisations. The original Declaration refers explicitly to this in stating that

22. The Communiqué from the 2005 Ministerial conference in Bergen stressed the importance of institutional involvement in the Bologna Process,[16] and thus supported the view that although created by governments, the success of Bologna is dependent upon 'bottom up' initiatives and actions, and cannot readily be legislated for by national governments and international agencies.

23. When asked whether the Bologna Process was sector-led, the Minister for Higher Education in the DfES replied that:

    "[…] the Bologna Declaration itself makes explicitly clear that the involvement of higher education communities is crucial for the success of the overall process. I think, thus far, a major part of its success has been that it has been bottom up and voluntary and respectful of higher education autonomy […] in negotiating the detail of this we do work hand-in-glove with our universities in this country."[17]

24. It will be essential to maintain a strong focus on the importance of institutional autonomy at the London meeting whilst recognising that the variability at present in university autonomy across the EC, and even more so across the European Higher Education Area, is an issue that cannot be shirked for the future.

The Fifth Ministerial Conference—London, May 2007

25. The fifth Ministerial Conference is due to be held in London on 17-18 May 2007. The Bergen Communiqué proposed that the London conference should focus on:

26. The Communiqué also called on the Bologna Follow up Group (BFUG) to present "comparable data on the mobility of staff and students as well as on the social and economic situation of students in participating countries as a basis for future stocktaking and reporting in time for the next Ministerial Conference."[18]

27. The DfES have told us that this event:

    "[…] has to satisfy a number of objectives. It needs to ensure that momentum is maintained and provide an assessment of how much more needs to be done in order to achieve the objective of creating an EHEA by 2010. It also has to provide a review of progress since the last Ministerial conference and set out the agreed priorities for the next two years."

    "The Government's intention is to make the event as forward looking and as participative as possible, and to minimise the time spent reporting progress. The Government is therefore seeking to use the conference as the basis for a first discussion of what the EHEA might look like post 2010 and to provoke more of a discussion about HE reform in Europe beyond Bologna, setting the whole conference in the context of the challenge of the internationalisation of higher education".[19]

28. Progress reports from each of the signatory countries can be read on the Bologna Secretariat web-site.[20] Papers and documents for the London meeting in May 2007 are not likely to be available until nearer the event.

29. The importance of the outcomes of the London meeting for higher education in the UK should not be underestimated. To take a single example, that of Engineering, the Engineering Council have told us:

    "Because of the role which the MEng [degree] has as a preparation for professional practice, ECUK and the professional engineering institutions are seen by many in universities as the bodies which should make a decision about the future of the MEng. We are currently considering the matter, but would prefer to await the outcomes of the London ministerial meeting in May 2007 and of the review of ECTS before making any firm recommendations to universities" .[21]

30. Although the main topics of the agenda may be pre-determined, this does not mean that the UK will not be able to influence the next steps in the Bologna process. As the UK HE Unit have said, "As hosts of the summit in London… the UK has an invaluable opportunity to further influence developments over the coming months and years."[22]

31. This inquiry has taken place over the last 6 months in order to facilitate broad discussion of the UK position in advance of the London Summit in May, with the intention of making a constructive contribution to the negotiations at the 2007 Summit and beyond.


6   Jennifer Bone and Ian McNay, Higher Education and Human Good, Report of a Consultation held at Sarum College, Salisbury, 3-4 March 2005, (Tockington Press Ltd, Bristol, 2006). Back

7   This action line was intended to formalise the central role of institutions and students in what is officially an inter-governmental process. Back

8   Ev 29 Back

9   Bernd Wachter, "The Bologna Process: developments and prospects", European Journal of Education 39, 3, (2004) p 265-273. Full quote: "While the move towards widening and deepening could […] be seen as a welcome development, it could also endanger the momentum of the reform, if not its success. Obviously, a more limited catalogue of concrete aims-which characterised the Bologna Process at its outset-has a much better chance of implementation than a very wide range of issues, especially in a reform-sceptical continent such as Europe. The latter always poses the threat of diluting the original set of aims. It could result in a very satisfying intellectual debate, but perhaps only in little genuine change." Back

10   The sector-wide UK HE Europe Unit was formally launched in 2004 to act as an observatory of European higher education developments. The Unit coordinates the UK HE sector's engagement in European HE policy debates, notably the Bologna Process, and lobbies on the sector's behalf. The Europe Unit is funded by Universities UK and the HE funding councils for England, Scotland and Wales and supported by the Quality Assurance Agency and Standing Conference of Principals. Back

11   UK HE Europe Unit, Guide to the Bologna Process, Edition 2, November 2006. Back

12   IbidBack

13   Guide to decision making within the process from the UK HE Europe Unit's web-site. http://www.europeunit.ac.uk/bologna_process/decision_making_within_the_process.cfm  Back

14   Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, Bologna Process Stocktaking, Report from a working group appointed by the Bologna Follow-up Group to the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Bergen, 19-20 May 2005. "All forty participating countries in the Bologna Process completed their National Reports in accordance with the standard format. It is important to emphasise, however, that the working group relied upon each participating country to respond accurately to the questions in the structured report format. The group had neither the remit nor the resources to validate the content of National Reports." http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Bergen/050509_Stocktaking.pdf  Back

15   The Bologna Declaration of 19 June 1999: http://www.bologna-berlin2003.de/pdf/bologna_declaration.pdf  Back

16   The European Higher Education Area: Achieving the Goals. Communiqué of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Bergen, 19-20 May 2005. "We underline the central role of higher education institutions, their staff and students as partners in the Bologna Process. Their role in the implementation of the Process becomes all the more important now that the necessary legislative reforms are largely in place, and we encourage them to continue and intensify their efforts to establish the EHEA. We welcome the clear commitment of higher education institutions across Europe to the Process, and we recognise that time is needed to optimise the impact of structural change on curricula and thus to ensure the introduction of the innovative teaching and learning processes that Europe needs". http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Docs/00-Main_doc/050520_Bergen_Communique.pdf  Back

17   Q 135 Back

18   The Bergen Communiqué 2005. http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Docs/00-Main_doc/050520_Bergen_Communique.pdf  Back

19   Ev 31 Back

20   National Reports/National Action Plans for Recognition, Bologna Secretariat website. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/bologna/index.cfm?fuseaction=docs.list&DocCategoryID=17  Back

21   Ev 86 Back

22   UK HE Europe Unit, Guide to the Bologna Process, Edition 2, November 2006. Back


 
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